Abstract

Students often regard laboratory instruments as “black boxes” which generate results, without understanding their principles of operation. This is a concern, as the correct interpretation of analytical results and the limitations thereof is invariably based on an understanding of the mechanism of measurement. Moreover, a number of tertiary institutions in Africa have very limited resources and access to laboratory equipment, including that related to the field of photonics, which prevents students from getting hands-on practical experience. This paper addresses both of these challenges, by allowing students to assemble a low cost spectrophotometer, called the SpecUP, which is then used in a range of chemistry-related experiments. Students can vary instrumental parameters to observe the effects these changes have on their experimental results. The SpecUP costs less than 50 euro to build, as compared to ~3 000 euro for commercial systems. Examples of the results obtained using the SpecUP in applied chemistry experiments are briefly presented here.

© 2013 OSA, SPIE, IEEE, ICO